On Wed, 29 Oct 2003 16:55:20 -0600, "Vicki"
wrote:

"toto" wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 29 Oct 2003 08:16:47 -0800, "Circe" wrote:

My neighbor, who is a kindergarten teacher herself, just took her first
grader out of school for a little over a week on an independent study
contract. I have a hard time believing she would do this to another
teacher
if she thought it would create a huge burden for that teacher.

I would suggest that the early grades are easier to do this in than
the later grades. If a child is reading well in first grade and is
up to speed on math skills some time off might not cause a problem.

But it sets a precedent. And I have found that most kids cannot take
so much time off once they are past the elementary level and still
manage to understand the work, particularly in mathematics.

I found mathematics to be the easiest to understand without a teachers help.
Picking up on symbolism in readings for English lit was much more
difficult--maybe b/c there were fewer aids for this, and you couldn't check
your work.

Perhaps so, but where many students fail is in algebra because they
must translate words into mathematical symbols with logical rigor.
Also, it's not the plug in and plug out and solving the numbers that
most math teachers are after but the ability to figure out which
formula to use, possibly to derive the formula for yourself and the
ability to explain why certain things work (proof).

And proof on the mathematical level does not come easy to most either.

I had a very good honors student who still got things backwards when
he attempted a geometry proof and who would argue about it too
though he was incorrect in his reasoning. Mathematical proofs don't
have the wiggle room that persuasive essays have.


--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..

The Outer Limits